Joseph Mallord William Turner

This was a right-hand page from the sketchbook. As Hill observes, the view here is taken from almost under Whitchurch Bridge, a toll bridge built in 1792, looking upstream, westwards, at the lock (now known as Whitchurch Lock) of which the lower gates are closed. Bold hatching indicates deep shadow, so Turner is looking into the light and this must be an evening view.1 Perhaps Pangbourne was an overnight stop, allowing a spell of fishing as well as drawing. The River Pang, which flows into the pool from the left, was noted for trout. There was a plan for Turner and his friend the architect John Soane, both keen anglers, to meet at Pangbourne for trout fishing in the first few days of September 1805.2 Hill remarks that Turner’s choice of view, ignoring the more attractive aspect towards Whitchurch, was ‘less than usually scenic’, suggesting that fishing was ‘more engrossing than the sketching’.3

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